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Cover of Importing into Lightroom Classic, a free PDF guide by Martin Sproul

Lightroom Classic Import Settings Guide

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Importing into Lightroom Classic is a free 31-page PDF guide to the Lightroom Classic import settings, written for Lightroom Classic 16. It takes you through the Import dialogue stage by stage, from the memory card to the catalogue, and explains what every choice does before you press Import.

Every decision in the Import dialogue is made before you have seen a single frame, and it stays with those photographs for as long as you keep them. Import a card into the wrong folder, under the wrong names or with the wrong method, and the tidying up takes far longer than the import ever did. That is why I teach importing photos into Lightroom Classic as a route of seven stages rather than as a screen full of tick boxes.

Diagram of the seven-stage Lightroom Classic import route, from Source through the four import methods to the Catalogue, with Add skipping File Renaming and Destination
The seven-stage import route from the guide, with Add skipping File Renaming and Destination.

The guide follows that route in order.

  • Source, including why the same memory card appears twice in the Source panel and which one to choose

  • Import Method, with Copy as DNG, Copy, Move and Add compared side by side

  • File Handling, from Build Previews and smart previews to duplicates, rejects and a second copy on another drive

  • File Renaming, with a filename template that stops two cameras on one trip producing the same names

  • Apply During Import, including a copyright metadata preset and raw defaults for each camera

  • Destination, with a date-based folder structure that still makes sense in ten years

  • Catalogue, covering import presets and the preferences that make every future import a two-click job

Lightroom Classic 16 brought real changes to the Import dialogue. The method is now a menu, a new filter bar lets you bring in only the frames you rated in the camera, and Assisted Culling can suggest keepers before anything is imported. These changes, and every other instruction in the guide, have been checked on screen in Lightroom Classic 16.0 and are illustrated with screenshots from the current version.

The guide finishes with a Quick Reference of the three decisions I am asked about most often, which method, which preview and which panels each method shows, and Before You Press Import, a one-page checklist of the Lightroom Classic import settings to print and keep beside the card reader.

It is written for enthusiasts and camera club members who already use Lightroom Classic and want every import to be quick, consistent and safe, whether that is one card after a morning walk or four thousand frames after a fortnight away. Windows and Mac differences are noted where they matter.

What you receive

  • A 31-page A4 PDF with a clickable contents page and bookmarks

  • Written for Lightroom Classic 16.0 on Windows and macOS

  • First edition, November 2026

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